Stocks post worst weekly drop in nearly six months led by IT, pharma

The stock market ended a turbulent week with steep losses, posting their worst weekly fall in nearly six months as IT and pharmaceutical stocks led a broad-based selloff.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 733 points, or 0.9%, to close at 80,426 on Friday, while the NSE Nifty 50 index dropped 236 points, or 0.95%, to 24,655. The Nifty Bank index fell 587 points to 54,389, while the broader Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 1,177 points to 56,379, reflecting weakness across most sectors.

The benchmark indices have now declined for six straight sessions, with Friday’s close marking the day’s low. Market breadth was heavily negative, with the NSE advance-decline ratio at 1:5, signalling broad-based selling pressure.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said the Indian investor sentiment was "rattled by a fresh wave of tariffs targeting the pharmaceuticals, dragging pharma stocks deep into the red." Nifty Pharma hit a one-month low, with several leading pharma names contributing to the broader selloff.

Information technology stocks bore the brunt of the losses. The Nifty IT index posted its worst weekly fall in six months, dragged lower by TCS, which saw its steepest weekly drop in over five years, falling 9%. Coforge tumbled 15%, while Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Mphasis, and Persistent Systems also posted sharp losses.

Midcap names were similarly hit hard. Coforge, Kalyan Jewellers, Mphasis, Persistent Systems, and IREDA emerged as the top midcap losers. On the BSE, companies erased nearly ₹16 lakh crore in market capitalisation over the week, with around ₹7 lakh crore wiped out on Friday alone.

Among other notable moves, L&T bucked the trend, rising modestly after updates on the Hyderabad Metro project. Vodafone Idea fell more than 8% after the Supreme Court deferred its AGR hearing to October 6.

Tata Motors gained over 1% following comments that some of its digital estate is now operational, while JSW Steel fell more than 1% after the Supreme Court cleared the resolution plan for BPSL.

Waaree Energies dropped over 7% despite company clarifications on a US probe.

Also Read: Stock Market Crash: Key factors that led to ₹16 lakh crore investor wealth being wiped out this weekRead about our editorial guidelines and ethics policy